Conservation Area: Delapre conservation area (DNN12395)

Delapre Park Conservation Area shows the development of a unique property and its surrounding landscape over nearly 900 years. While the majority of buildings within the conservation area are listed, the grounds, planting and surrounding buildings currently have no statutory protection. The conservation area is intended to provide a degree of protection to the historic landscape that provides a setting for the house. Delapre Abbey is located to the south of the town centre of Northampton and the River Nene and close to the main road to London. Until recently, it was surrounded by farmland. In the early part of the twentieth century, housing was built on western side of London Road, while more recently the golf course and the A45 were built to the south and east. The character of the conservation area is that of a country house set in informal parkland, with ancillary buildings and a formal garden attached to the main building. Delapre Abbey is built around a central courtyard with an attached walled garden, with service buildings predominately located to the north of the house. The area has a green and open feel, with formal and informal gardens surrounding the Abbey. The conservation area is on the edge of the flood plain of the river Nene where it rises towards Hardingstone. The First Edition Ordnance Survey map for the area shows the abbey surrounded by farmland. Since then, housing was built to the west in the 1930s, the railway yards to the north have expanded, and to the south the A45 and the golf course have all changed the setting of Delapre Abbey. Recently, Charterwood was planted to the east of the Abbey to mark the anniversary of Northampton’s charter. The Abbey and its grounds are located alongside London Road to the south of the town centre, and are separated from the historic town by the river and then later on the London & North Western Railway. It is on the opposite side of the river from Medieval Northampton – a fairly common location for abbeys, monasteries and nunneries. Still a footpath today, the original trackway from Northampton town centre to Hardingstone is located to the east of the abbey. At present views to and from London road are hampered by the bunding, which has recently received planning permission to be removed. The golf course and Delapre Wood block much of the visual impact of the A45 from the Abbey and its grounds, although the noise of traffic is noticeable across much of the site.

Record last edited

Jun 13 2019 11:50AM